Protests after death

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The protesters in Bokaro on Thursday. (Pankaj Singh)

More than 400 villagers on Thursday blocked the Bijulia-Parbatput main road, around 24km from Bokaro city, for close to four hours to protest the death of a 21-year-old man who had met with an accident on Wednesday night.

Sources said Chandankyari resident Raju Gope had suffered multiple injuries when the motorcycle he was riding on collided head-on with a speeding SUV, that apparently belonged to Electrosteel Castings Limited near Bandhadih in Bijulia. The mishap took place around 7pm.

Gope, a first year engineering student of Guru Govind Singh College, was found lying in a pool of blood by local residents after the mishap. He was then rushed to a private nursing home in Chas, where he later succumbed to his injuries around Wednesday midnight. The SUV driver managed to flee the spot with his vehicle.

As the news of the death spread on Thursday morning, hundreds of villagers from Bijulia, Bandhadih and Siyaljori assembled on the main road around 8am and staged a blockade. The protesters, shouting slogans, demanded an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the deceased and a permanent job with Electrosteel Castings Limited.

Later, Chas block officer Ranthu Matha, along with a large number of police officers, reached the spot and tried to pacify the agitators.

Officials of Electrosteel Castings Limited too reached the spot and held talks with the villagers and district administrative officilas, which were on till the filing of this report.